We got to sit in on a class at one of Asia's premier K-pop training centers and oh my god was it intense.
Reporting From
Seoul, South KoreaThis is Winnie Lee, 17, and Vivian Chang, 18. They both grew up loving Korean music and are super excited about getting a chance to learn at Global K Center.
"I’ve watched a lot of Korean entertainment shows since primary school so I wanted to become a trainee," Chang said.
But the days here are long. Lee said you're pretty much practicing any time you're not sleeping or eating.
"You have to take the initiative to practice on your own for dancing, singing, and everything else," she said. "After you finish dinner, you have to come and practice. Then you go back, shower and sleep, and get up early in the morning and come practice again. They've organized classes for us, but you have to decide what you want to do in your free time, so if you want to work hard, then you will come and practice."
Shawn Wang, 21, said that he was shocked to find out that there was an entire school just for K-pop training.
"I wanted to see what it was like overseas and how it is different from Taiwan," he said. "I wanted to see what the trainees do here and where they train."
Huang actually doesn't want to be a K-pop star — he wants to run the boards in studios and at concerts. But he thought that going to a K-pop academy would be a good way to better understand the music industry.
"I’ve never danced before," he said.
Ding Yao Huang, 20, said he came to Korea because he wasn't happy with the type of dance classes offered in Taiwan.
"In Taiwan, I only went to a few dancing classes. I want to keep dancing in the future and become a K-pop trainee."
He said that the center treats the men and women performers equally, but he does have trouble with some of the moves for the women.
"Some dance moves are different," he said. "There are some moves that are a bit sexy that guys can’t pull off. No one is bad but we all are working hard."
He said the hardest thing about taking classes is the singing. "I can’t sing in tune," he said.
Rachael: I'm still absolutely astounded by the fact that that class was going to be four hours long. These kids are really committed to K-pop stardom at a level you don't really see in other genres of music, I think. I just hope for them this isn't the be-all and end-all. Success in any industry is hard, let alone entertainment, but especially K-pop. But hey, if they're enjoying it and get a short glimpse of how their idols live, that's pretty awesome.
Ryan: I agree with Rachael, basically. This shit is intense and these kids eat, sleep, and breathe K-pop — literally. Everyone we spoke to talked about how much it meant to them to even have the chance to do something like this. Good luck, future K-pop superstars! God knows I don't have even an iota of what it takes to do something like this.
Kassy: I knew that training for K-pop was intense, but witnessing it in person for even just a few hours really took it to a whole other level. I really admired just how driven all the kids were, despite how exhausting it evidently was. But like the kids themselves told us, if you work hard, you'll be able to achieve your goals, and it's not highly unlikely we'll be able to say in the future that we were once in the same room with a K-pop idol (who is definitely not Ryan).